News

Oh boy! To celebrate 20 years of Mint Records, for the entire month of November, our entire catalogue is on sale. Visit maplemusic.com for 20% off your next mailorder, zunior.com for cheap digital downloads, or your favourite local record shop to get your Mint fix. Not bad!

Tickets: $12 in advance/$15 at the door Doors: 8pm (come early for prizes) The first 50 people to arrive will receive gifts from the good people at: Pocky, Red Cat Records, Zulu Records, Six Cent Press and Black Dog Video. Partial proceeds go to support Vancouver's Safe Amplification Society. We'd also like to thank our sponsors, CBC Radio 3, CiTR 101.9FM, Exclaim! and Scion. Maybe they'll donate some prizes too. Advance tickets are available from: Red Cat Records, Zulu Records, The Waldorf's front desk and online through eventbrite.com

It looks like our Geoff Berner is once again Europe bound. This time, he's traveling with his klezmer trio of Wayne Adams and Diona Davies.

Beginning in Bremen, Germany on Oct. 28, and finishing in Aalborg, Denmark on Nov. 27, the trio will hit Germany, England, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark, in a circuitous tour that takes them through 5 major festivals and a rash of sweaty club gigs.

This is their 2nd European tour of 2011, already having taken the new album to France, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and other shows in Germany. Reviews have been terrific for the new disc, which is available on CD, LP and all digital formats, including iTunes.

The trio's live shows are legendary debauches of drunken dancing, and the crowds have been getting ever-larger on each tour. Come on out for the Victory Party!

Dates Include:

Oct 28 - Bremen, Germany at Weserterrassen, Klezmerwochen Festival

Oct 29 - Hildesheim, Germany at Folk n Fusion Festival

Oct 30 - Halle, Germany at Objekt 5

Nov 02 - Croydon, UK at The Green Dragon

Nov 03 - London, UK at Jamboree

Nov 04, 2011 Bridlington, UK at MusicPort Festival

Nov 05 - Bridlington, UK at MusicPort Festival

Nov 06 - Vienna, Austria at Ostklub (Klezmore Festival)

Nov 07 - Kronach, Germany at Struwwelpeter

Nov 08 - Fuerth, Germany at Babylon

Nov 09 - Augsburg, Germany at Ballonfabrik

Nov 10 - Fulda, Germany at Kreuz

Nov 11 - Langenthal, Switzerland at Chramerhuus

Nov 12 - Fribourg, Switzerland at Elvis et Moi

Nov 13 - Schaffhausen, Switzerland at Tap Tab

Nov 14 - Biel, Switzerland at International Lokal

Nov 15 - Kassel, Germany at Schlachthof

Nov 16 - Erfurt, Germany at Stadtgarten

Nov 17 - Hamburg, Germany at Astrastube

Nov 18 - Flensburg, Germany at Volksbad

Nov 19 - Odense, Denmark at Studenterhuset

Nov 22 - Goteborg, Sweden at Mitt Andra Hem (with Blue Eyed Blondes)

Nov 23 - Stockholm, Sweden at Mosebacke (with Peter Murphy)

Nov 25 - Frankfurt on Oder at Trans Vocale Festival

Nov 26 - Copenhagen, Denmark at Huset Magstraede

Nov 27 - Aalborg, Denmark at 1000fryd

"I'd heard other recordings from Berner, but this was the first time I'd been struck so viscerally and so deeply. The songs here make me want to dance. And sometimes they make me want to fight. Often they make me want to do both at exactly the same time." --Rootsworld Magazine

"Like rabbit tracks going through the backyard, Geoff Berner's intellectual path is both mysterious and twinkling. I would call him the perfect Canadian musician in that he spices so much of the soup with history while simultaneously delivering a heck of a tasty bowl." --SEE Magazine Edmonton

Our pals in Hot Panda are feeling a little restless. In addition to preparing for Vancouver's always exciting Victory Square Block Party, they are writing new material and packing their bags for their second European tour. Not bad guys, not bad.

Becky and Maya of The Pack a.d. are loading up their new van, named HAL, and bracing themselves for the tour of a lifetime! To commemorate the September 13th release of Unpersons, they'll be playing 40+ shows over three months. Be sure to check them out, and buy them a beer. Those girls work hard!

To satiate your appetite for Unpersons, we've posted "Sirens" from the new record here.

As gritty and intoxicating as ever, Maya Miller and Becky Black pound punk and garage rock into a fuzzy pulp.“Sirens” lures you in with that snarl and keeps you planted until the drums have burned solidly through your skull. - RCRD LBL

NEWSFLASH!We're proud to report that Unpersons, the fourth full length release from The Pack a.d., will be out on Mint Records this September 13th. The record was engineered by Vancouver's infamous Jesse Gander at The Hive Studios and produced by mastermind Jim Diamond (The Dirtbombs, The Paul Collins Beat, The White Stripes) and will melt your face off. We've captured a little bit of studio footage from the making of Unpersons and you can watch that here!

Canada's hardest working garage rock duo, The Pack a.d., may be mourning the untimely passing of Falcon, their trusty tour van, but never ones to slow down, they aren't letting it stop their upcoming spring tour. This month, the Vancouverites are packing their bags and heading East. From coast to coast to coast (almost) the tour will see stops from Penticton, BC to Charlottetown, PEI to Whitehorse YK and many points in between, including a stop in Toronto for a killer NXNE show. This tour will also be their farewell tour for 2010's we kill computers (Mint), so be prepared to experience a song or two from The Pack a.d.'s upcoming 4th album, due out this fall and produced by Jim Diamond (The Detroit Cobras, Electric Six, The White Stripes). Also keep your eyes peeled for a video for "B.C. Is On Fire", due out in late May and directed by Vancouver filmmaker Sean Devlin (shitharperdid.ca). To commemorate the life and times of Falcon, they are asking fans to send a postcard or letter explaining their favourite road trip story. The best three submissions will receive a Pack a.d. prize pack including signed vinyl and other surprises. Include your return address as well, you might even get some mail back from the band! Send your best road trip story to: The Pack a.d. c/o Mint Records Po Box 3613 Vancouver, BC V6B 3Y6 Entry deadline: June 1st, 2011 Upcoming Tour Dates: May 14th - The Red Room, Vancouver, BC May 21st - The Elite, Penticton, BC June 1st - The Seahorse Tavern, Halifax, NS June 2nd - Manhattan Club, Moncton, NB June 3rd - Baba's, Charlottetown, PEI June 4th - Gallery Connexion, Fredericton, NB June 7th - Mansion House, St Catharines, ON June 8th - London Music Club, London, ON June 10th - Le Divan Orange, Montreal, QC June 11th - Westfest (Mainstage), Ottawa, ON June 12th - Le Cercle, Quebec June 17th - The Horseshoe Tavern (NXNE), Toronto, ON June 18th - Poplar Arts & Music Fest, Saskatoon, SK June 24th - Sunstroke Festival, Whitehorse, YK June 25th - Sunstroke Festival, Whitehorse, YK July 8th - Sounds of Old Strath Fest, Edmonton, AB July 9th - Sounds of Old Strath Fest, Edmonton, AB July 16th - Nakusp Music Fest, Nakusp, BC July 22nd - Gateway Fest (Garden Stage), Bengough, SK

Soon we will be ditching the woolly mittens, dusting off our sunglasses and migrating south for SXSW. This time Mint Records and the Olio Festival are joining forces to host a fierce tequila and taco-fueled afternoon party with some of the finest up-and-coming talent (and a few old favourites for good measure). Vice Magazine Co-founder and man behind Street Boners and TV Carnage, Gavin Mcinnes will be starting things off with some street fashion insights and hilarity. Following that will be Vancouver's electrifying Humans, Mint's Hot Panda, Arbutus Records' Grimes and a band from Brooklyn called Bikini. Andrew WK will also be there to party hard - possibly with Nardwuar (we can't give away all of the surprises). Did we mention it is free? See you there!

Larissa Loyva is a busy woman. In addition to her solo project Kellarissa (which literally translates to "in the basement"), we've heard her soaring vocals on noteworthy previous releases from P:ano, The Choir Practice and Gigi. This March, she will be traveling North America in Destroyer's touring band and preparing to release her sophomore Mint Records album, Moon of Neptune. She'll probably be sipping some delicious cocktails too. That said, we're excited! Moon of Neptune is a synth nerd's dream, inspired by ancient Egypt, breakups, films, Larissa's Scandinavian heritage and outer space. A limited supply of glossy black vinyl will be available (500 copies) from your friends at Mint Records on March 29th, 2011.